We’re still gathering details at this time, but a carjacking in another part of Seattle developed into a pursuit including shots fired from the fleeing vehicle in our area. We have numerous reports from residents of gunfire heard in the vicinity of 35th Ave NE between NE 75 and 65th Sts.

The suspect was taken into custody near NE 65th St and 35th Ave NE just after 2:00pm, and believed to be injured in the process.

Updates to follow.

UPDATE (2:18pm): We’re hearing of multiple motor vehicle collision scenes up and down 35th Ave NE. Recommend using 25th and 40th Aves NE for north-south travel through the area. Place to AVOID is 35th Ave NE between NE 65th and 75th Sts.

UPDATE (2:25pm): Here now some tweets from residents during the pursuit:

We know of three SPD vehicles smashed up during the pursuit, trying to stop the fleeing carjacked vehicle: NE 45th St and Roosevelt Way NE, on 35th Ave NE near NE 70th St, and another on NE 68th St at 38th Ave NE.

UPDATE (4:33pm): The Seattle Police Department Blotter has the timeline up now. In total, two cars stolen at gunpoint in two different locations, multiple shots fired, at least three SPD vehicles with major damage, several officers and uninvolved motorists invited in collisions, and one dead suspect.

Today’s incident began around 12:30 PM when the suspect entered a downtown coffee shop armed with a handgun, leading employees to call police.

The man then fled to a tattoo parlor at 2nd Avenue and Lenora Street leading to another 911 call. After leaving the shop, the suspect reportedly stole a red Volkswagen at gunpoint and drove to the Montlake area. There, the armed suspect reportedly stole a second vehicle.

Officers began pursuing the suspect in Montlake, where they reported coming under fire from the fleeing suspect.

The man then drove onto westbound 520 and northbound onto Interstate 5 before exiting in the Ravenna neighborhood.

The suspect fired at officers at Northeast 68th Street and 35th Avenue NE. Officers returned fire, fatally wounding the man. He is believed to be a white male in his 30s.

The officer was driving southbound on the freeway, just after 4 am, approaching the 65th Street exit, when the suspect vehicle intentionally rammed the patrol car from behind. The impact caused the officer’s vehicle to move across the lanes of traffic and into the embankment. The suspect vehicle then fled the scene.

Southbound I-5 north of NE 65th Street is affected to do the investigation at the hit and run scene.

From police scanner chat, it now looks as though the suspect fled in his vehicle east on NE 65th Street, and was stopped at Ravenna Avenue NE by officers. Homicide detectives are on scene now, as is Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole. Waiting on details from SPD to confirm an officer-involved shooting and the suspect being deceased.

At this time the intersection of NE 65th Street and Ravenna Avenue NE as well as the 6500 block of Ravenna Avenue NE is closed for police investigation.

More updates as we’re able.

UPDATE (5:44am): The main line of southbound I-5 is closed at this time from approximately NE 85th Street to NE 65th Street. WSDOT has opened the express lanes southbound for all traffic.

Just before noon on Thursday, October 30, a resident on NE 75th Street spotted three SPD vehicles high-tailing it east towards Wedgwood.

They were heading toward a bank robbery on the 7300 block of 35th Avenue NE.

Police are looking for a white male in his 50s, 5-feet, 4-inches tall, 135 pounds, wearing a black coat with a grey hoodie, jeans, and a cap (reads “Grizzly” in white stitching). The suspect is possibly armed.

UPDATE (12:32 PM): The previous bank robbery on 35th Avenue NE happened almost exactly two weeks ago, one block up the street from today’s. The descriptions of both suspects appear to be the same, but we have no confirmation from Seattle Police that this was the same individual in both cases.

UPDATE (2:36 PM):Seattle Schools has corrected their earlier list of schools that had sheltered in place this afternoon: View Ridge Elementary was not affected and did not shelter-in-place.

Shortly after 3 AM, Seattle Fire Department units responded to a rollover collision near or on the I-5 offramp to Lake City Way.

Via scanner, we’ve learned there are six patients: Three patients with life-threatening injuries and three with non-life-threateningAll six have been transported from the scene to area hospitals in stable and with non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said via twitter.

The collision has the two right lanes of I-5 blocked, with traffic slowly moving through on the left. We expect northbound traffic on I-5 through the area to be impacted for some time as the collision is investigated.

Just before 10 AM, just after some heavy rains had fallen over the area, a tree on a hillside near NE 50th Street and Ravenna Avenue NE became unstable. The tree, or part of it, fell against some power lines and ignited a fire that was first reported as a house fire, but was downgraded later to a brush fire. Downed lines could be seen in the trees on the hillside as well as in the road below it.

The affected hillside is just to the south of the Raven View Apartments (5001 25th Avenue NE). This section of Ravenna Avenue NE is a dead end, and residents south of the downed lines were unable to use the road until the scene was deemed safe by Seattle City Light crews.

As a Seattle City Light crew worked to move the lines from the road, the downed lines on the hillside ignited another small brush fire.

The ensuing outage affected about 2,000 customers. The estimated time of restoration is 2:41 PM, but some residents of the area have reported lights coming back on already.

UPDATE (1:21 PM): Seattle City Light reporting that power is coming back for another round of residents:

Crews have restored power for 145 more customers in NE Seattle. Down to 1890 that are out. Still working.

UPDATE (2:08 PM): Seattle City Light has updated the estimated power restoration time to 5:45 PM, over three hours later than the original estimate.

Here is a picture of what Seattle City Light crews are up against as they make repairs at the incident site (picture taken from Ravenna Avenue NE looking southwest toward where the tree or tree limb downed some of the lines). The conditions at the scene are anything but ideal for SCL crews: Lots of tall, wild greenery and trees on a hillside, with the lines on the uphill slope.

UPDATE (5:43 PM): All but 57 Seattle City Light customers have power restored. Estimated restoration time for the remaining residents and businesses is 10 PM as remaining fixes require the replacement of the downed lines.

[SFD crews were] dispatched at 2:09 am to a house near 8 Avenue NE and NE 72 Street for a report of a porch fire that extended to the roof. Firefighters quickly extinguished the visible flames but worked for about an hour aggressively digging out the hidden fire located in the attic void spaces. The home owner discovered the fire and was out of the building by the time firefighters arrived.

An Ida Culver House Ravenna resident (seated) leaves the facility during the police activity for the calm of a local restaurant across the street.

We became aware around 4 PM of a large police presence around Ida Culver House Ravenna (2315 NE 65th Street). A man and an elderly female resident and been both found dead in a room inside. Police are now investigating the incident as a possible murder-suicide.

Homicide detectives stand in the inner courtyard of Ida Culver House Ravenna.

Police received a report from the man’s family around 2 PM that the man had left his Ballard home after indicating he was contemplating suicide. A short time later, police received a second call from the family indicating the man may have headed for his elderly mother’s assisted living facility in the Ravenna neighborhood, with plans to harm her.

As police headed to the facility—located in the 2300 block of NE 65th Street—nursing home staff went to the elderly woman’s room to check on her, and found the bodies of a man and an elderly woman. The King County Medical Examiner will formally identify the bodies.

A King County Medical Examiner readies herself for the scene as locals gather outside Ida Culver House Ravenna.

More info when we have it.

***

UPDATE (5:36 PM): Added pictures from the scene.

UPDATE (Tuesday evening): Yesterday we talked with Nicole Francois with Ida Culver House Ravenna about the incident. She told us that counselors have been made available to staff and residents onsite, and “every day is a bit better for our community.” Francois also shared with us a statement from the president of Era Living:

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our remarkable residents. Our hearts go out to the family that is affected by this tragic event.

We are working in cooperation with the Seattle Police Department as they investigate the death of a resident from this single and isolated incident.”

– Eli Almo, President and CEO, Era Living

The names of those who died have not yet been released by the medical examiner’s office to us. Francois was unable to release similar information; however, she was able to say that the Ida Culver Ravenna resident was in an independent living unit at the time of the incident. In general, the family and friends of residents are strongly encouraged to visit their loved ones in retirement communities like Ida Culver. Depression due to feelings of isolation is a major concern. And unless staff is informed of issues between residents and potential visitors, there is usually no reason to prevent such meetings.

Francois also told us that there will be a private memorial service for the resident sometime this week, for family and friends. If residents feel moved to pass along condolences, they can be sent along to Ida Culver House Ravenna, 2315 NE 65th Street, Seattle, WA 98115.

UPDATE (Friday, July 25): The names of the deceased were published in today’s Seattle Times: Annie McClure, 83, and William T. McClure, 57. The woman’s death, due to a gunshot wound to the head, was ruled a homicide. Her son took his own life in the same manner.

At approximately 12:40 PM on Tuesday, June 24, Seattle Police and Fire staff responded to a motor vehicle accident (MVA) call at 12th Avenue NE and NE 65th Street, next to the Roosevelt Light Rail Station construction site.

What was unusual for this particular MVA was the large number of police vehicles near the collision site (at least nine, by our quick count). Turns out that this incident was a hit-and-run by a stolen vehicle, Seattle Police told us via twitter. A witness to the incident said that after the collision, the suspect fled south.

UPDATE (Thursday morning): On the afternoon of the incident, we reached out on twitter on the off chance of contacting someone involved in the subduing of the suspect after he fled the stolen vehicle. A man named Shawn (last name withheld by request) replied, not only with his narrative of the events but a very thoughtful setting of his role that afternoon.

We have yet to see an official narrative of the incident from the Seattle Police Department, but the description of the event that Shawn has shared with us matches what other witnesses at the scene observed.

Here is the account, in Shawn’s words, from two separate emails received on Wednesday:

If you’d just like my recollection of events, I was overlooking the intersection there, on the NE corner of 2nd level of the Whole Foods shopping plaza. I was on break from work at the time, when I heard a loud screech followed by a massive crunch of metal.

I hurried down the stairs located on the NE corner there and looked over to my left to see a car pretty much flipped into incoming traffic. I began running toward the car to check on the victims when I realized that people were yelling STOP HIM at someone.

I looked over across the street and saw a young guy in a red T shirt and baggy jeans running down the opposite sidewalk. I shouted, Hey you, stop, and he didn’t acknowledge me or the other people shouting similar things.

It was at that point I shouted at him again, Hey, you, stop right now, and started chasing after him. I ran across the street and onto the opposite curb; he wasnt a great runner and I caught up to him near the SE corner of the Whole Foods on the opposite side of the street. He actually tripped himself up mostly, and kind of ditched it into the bushes there along with his bag… I slid him off the bush and onto the ground and tried to get control of his arms.

At that point the level of rational thought I had put into this move was literally zero, and it was about then that he started getting really squirrelly with his left arm, trying to pull it away and use it as leverage or reach for something. He actually did pull it completely out of my grasp at one point and it was all I could do to keep it pinned underneath him, afraid what he might try to pull out.

Fortunately that was the moment that the driver and another Good Samaritan ran up and helped get better control over him; I kept shouting at onlookers to call the cops not sure if any of them actually had or not. I was very concerned about the well-being of the driver, who probably should not have been running after this guy after such a serious crash; he was being treated after I finished giving the cops a statement and I was glad to hear he ended up being pretty much ok.

It only took about 5 minutes or so for the cops to show up, by which time we were all wrapped up pretty good with the guy, who was resisting and shouting the whole time. The cops knew who to go for right away (a small relief) and they pulled us apart and took him into custody.

That was about the point I realized I was probably going to be late back into work, and asked the cop after giving my contact info if he could write me a note for my supervisor. He gave me his card, and said just give them this, if they have any problems at all, call me.

That was pretty much it. Tbh I didn’t think about it at all, if I had, I probably would have done nothing. But I was worried he might try to carjack someone or worse and it just kind of happened. :3

I didn’t even realize it was a stolen car at the time, I just saw him running from an accident that he caused and no one moving in the victims car.

[…]and I just don’t really want any undue attention for such a minor incident.

Ultimately, the only thing I’ve really taken away from this and other similar events is that sometimes we are at the right time and the right place, in life, to affect change or do the right thing. And in those rare moments, it’s better to go with your gut reaction and act rather than forever wonder ‘what if’. Being trapped in a box alone with that question can be a deadly curse.

I would just add that we each have far more power than we think, and I truly believe we are all responsible for making the world we live in into the world we’d imagine for ourselves and our loved ones.

On Tuesday afternoon, one man was booked into King County Jail for vehicle theft. We are watching for more documentation on the case (in King County District Court) and will continue to add updates here.

Just after 1:30 PM on Wednesday, April 16, Seattle Fire and Police units responded to a car-into-building call at the Wedgwood Mart (6236 35th Ave NE).

A man in a silver Lexus had a seizure (per Seattle Fire PIO Sue Stangl), and ended up driving up over the sidewalk along 35th Ave NE and into the convenience store’s parking lot, coming to rest on the front sidewalk of the store and against a brick pillar.

A witness who called 911 on the convenience store’s phone told us that the car struck a small tree in the parking strip before it struck the building. She also said that the shopkeeper was standing just to the left of the car’s final position and was nearly hit as well.

The witness also said that first responders broke a window of the vehicle to gain access to the driver. The adult male driver was later removed from the vehicle, conscious and alert from our vantage point, and was taken to a nearby hospital in an AMR ambulance.

Above, an officer stands nearby the vehicle as it is prepared to be towed out of the parking lot. Traffic nearby was impacted only briefly as the tow truck entered and exited the lot.

After the damaged car was removed, it appeared as though very little damage was done to the convenience store.

At about 4:26 PM on Saturday afternoon, the weather turned TOO EXCITING near Ravenna Blog HQ. Lightning struck a tree just a couple hundred feet away, sending bark flying, hearts pounding, and causing a small power outage.

Engine 16 stopped by to check things out briefly. A light smell of wood smoke hung in the air, and a homeowner nearby mentioned a cracked window.

Power was lost the instant the lightning struck, but the outage looks to be a small one, affecting around 60 households.

Good to see you, too, Seattle City Light!

UPDATE (5:37 PM): On that lightning strike/power outtake just north of Green Lake: